


Day Three || SasuHina Renaissance Week || Whims

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: SasuHina Renaissance Week 2018 [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bullying, Depression, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-09-23 01:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17070545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: High school is full of contradictions, drama, and even the odd bully or two. What happens when a wallflower and a broody boy end up meeting in the middle?





	Day Three || SasuHina Renaissance Week || Whims

The wallflower. The broody boy.  A tale told a thousand times, a thousand ways. But this is  _their_  story, the way they want to tell it.

It starts with a mutual acquaintance. Bullied when he was young, Uzumaki Naruto blossoms in high school. Maybe not the genius his begrudging best friend is, but charismatic, a star of the school basketball team. Always boasting a smile, having time to talk to everyone - his teachers may shake their heads at his homework, but they can’t help but admit: he brings life to the academy halls.

She’s crushed on him since grade school. Hinata, too, was outcast. But rather than bloom in adversity as her idol had done, she shrunk into herself, retreating until she was too unnoticeable to be bothered. From there, she coasted quietly through her classes, earning top grades and teachers’ praise, but still shying from her peers…and hoping to catch some of Naruto’s light.

And perhaps, someday, be noticed.

But her quietude means saying nothing, doing nothing but watching from the sidelines.

Much as  _he_  does.

Sasuke, unlike his companion who revels in attention, attempts to repel it at any cost. When he was young, it was his parents’ death that earned him stares. As he got older, it was shallow appreciation of his looks. Though the former has faded with time, the latter still sees him retreat at any given opportunity…except when Naruto’s iron grip around his shoulders keeps him pinned in place.

They notice each other - he her background reverence, and she his unwillingness to belong. Each of them pine for what the other possesses. She wants Naruto’s acknowledgement. He wants to be left the hell alone.

But such things aren’t so easily traded.

Sasuke tries to point her out. Naruto can’t be bothered. And given his own crush’s adoration of his best friend, the blond can’t make a move. Sasuke insists he doesn’t care - would be glad to be rid of her attention.

But no one ever listens to him. Naruto ignores his vying for peace and quiet. Sakura ignores his rejection again and again.

Hinata sees. Hinata pities. Hinata envies. She can’t build the courage to talk to Naruto…but her anxious heart has no qualm when Sasuke seeks her company instead.

She does ask why. He replies, “You’re quiet. I’m tired of the noise.”

She wonders how one tires of the sun.

And finally, Sasuke finds a way to escape them. Naruto doesn’t follow when Hinata’s around. He knows about her infatuation. Doesn’t want to hurt her feelings…so he pretends they don’t exist. The blond’s kryptonite is a little cruel - part of Sasuke regrets using her as a makeshift shield. But he can’t deny he appreciates the change of pace.

She’s never had someone to listen before, and he’s not the type to tell. On she’ll ramble, about this and about that. Finally, she can tell someone about what weighs heavy, and assume he doesn’t care enough to use it against her. True, at first. But one can’t help but worry as her offhand comments sometimes tinge a little…dark.

She lost her mother young. Her father is haunted by her face, so similar to his wife’s. Her sister begrudges her her time with the woman whose life she took through labor. Her cousin ignores her: was the first to turn his back in middle school. She’s alone, she says. She’s fine, she says.

It hurts, she whispers.

What starts as a one-sided tide turns into a back and forth. He talks of parents long dead, a brother so far ahead, and having his hurt seen as something simply edgy and ‘cool’.

He admits he wishes they’d know that pain. See how ‘cool’ it is then, when your heart is bound in ice, colder than their dead bodies.

Naruto had been the same, once upon a time. But he’d sought something to fill his void. Sasuke reveled in it. Nothing could sate it, so he fed it himself. And in her, he could see it growing. He wondered when it would eat her, too.

And then, it nearly did.

His hope, months ago, now turned to a horror. They caught them lip-locked, tongue-tied behind the bleachers. Hinata stared. Turned. Walked through a fog of heartbreak.

There was no apology.

Sasuke followed. Didn’t speak. Hinata knew Sakura had chased him. Naruto chased her. Hinata chased him.

She doesn’t see him following her now.

Foolish, she says. What she deserves, she says.

“No.”

Hands take wrists and eyes pin eyes.

He refuses.

“No!”

Stop bowing to other’s whims, he says. Stop pining for attention no one wants to give you. Your father’s, sister’s, cousin’s, crush. Stop chasing what won’t turn to see you.

Stop and see what sees you  _now_.

…

She stares.

…

How long were they strung along in this chain? Each link following the other, hoping to get what’s ahead and refuting what comes behind? Sakura turned to see Naruto.

Maybe  _she_  should turn around.

We’re alone, he says. It’s fine, he says.

It doesn’t have to hurt anymore, he whispers.

**Author's Note:**

> Day three of SHRW - with a theme of whims, and the sub-theme of favorite cliche. Mine was the wallflower and the bad boy! A very overdone trope, but...honestly I really really like this piece. I love the flow and style of it - I've never really written anything like it before. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed it - thanks for reading!


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